Mexika New Year, Los Angeles (March 19th)

Facebook.com; Xochitl, Ashley Wells, Crystal Quintero, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly

Aztec warriors dance at Aztec/Mayan celebration at Kukulkan in Mexico (ABC.net.au).

This pictographic stone "Mayan Calendar" is actually Aztec (pre-Mexican). Mayans had others.

 
"Mexika New Year" is the Aztec New Year festival (like Nowruz which marks spring).

UPDATE: It was a fabulous day at the festival. We learned much. First, it's only called "East" Los Angeles because it's east of the Los Angeles River, on the "wrong side of the tracks," as it were. One moment it's downtown, cross a bridge and it's suddenly ELA. The real eastern edge of LA is Montclair, 50 miles away. Next to White Memorial Hospital and an extraordinary book haven called Libros Schmibros Lending Library is a square where mariachis-for-hire wander.


Today the drums were beating, and real Aztec dancers were moving in full regalia. We shot video, took workshops to learn about the literature of pre-Colombus America in Nahuatl with CSUN Prof. Sandoval, and really learned about indigenous L.A., a history of a people here lost to nearly everyone, even in the remaining community.

Mexika (tribe)

First Nation Syndicate in collaboration with Northern Southern Winds Cultural Foundation, Danza Xipe Totec, and the First Street Community Businesses invites you to this FREE 16th annual event.

It will be held in Boyle Heights' Mariachi Plaza. It celebrates the rich and diverse cultures of the First Nation peoples of the great city of Tenochtitlan also known as "Mexica," the land of the Aztecs.

• Mexika New Year, 10:00 am-10:00 pm
• Mariachi Plaza (at Boyle and 1st St.)
• 1817 E. 1st St., Los Angeles 90033

Overview

Native Mexican-American dancer, L.A.

The FREE festival starts off with the building of the annual pre-Columbian flower altar, which symbolically represents the new year cycle. It is followed by a splendid ceremony of Mitotialistli, better known as Aztec dance guided by Kalpulli Xipetotec.
 

Join this moment in time, an important milestone when ears, bodies, and spirits resonate with the sounds of ancient wisdom. Eyes take in the grandeur and beauty of times nearly forgotten. Following this ceremony, the stage will immediately open for a presentation of knowledge, poetry, music, and much more.

Workshops

There will be a variety of workshops starting with a reading of the Aztec Calendar and the reclaiming of our identity within it by Maestro Mazatzin. This will be followed by workshops on making indigenous musical instruments by Martin Espino. And finally, a workshop on pre-Columbian literature and poetry will be taught by Cal State Univ. Northridge/ELAC Prof. Sandoval, a poet and Nahuatl (the indigenous pre-Spanish language of the people) scholar.

Live Music

Mitiotialisti cultural dance presentation by Kalpulli Yaocuauhtli (the Aztec Dancers). Music by N.M.E. Rifa, Sick Jacken, Kem the Blaxican, South Central Skankers, Mata Moska, Quinto Sol, Tezozomoc, Azul Quetzal, La Diabla, Krazy Race, Akademex, Salvajes, Rebellion Warfare, Sicko Soldado, Alas, Legion of Slugs, Dazer, Comandante, A.G.O.P., D.O.T.C., The Young Casanovas, DJ FM, DJ Survive, DJ Luman, hosted by Sister Centzi of the Guerrilla Queenz and others.

(Simon Mendoza) Mexica New Year, Aztec dance 2016, Los Angeles, California.

History

Aztec woman, a Los Angeles Latina, a Native Queen of Angels (limitstogrowth.org)

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Quetzalcoatl dancing (like Shiva Nataraj)

This celebration acknowledges ALL First Nation peoples living across the American continent through art exhibits, dancing, and singing.

  
On display will be some of the best contemporary Native Mexican and urban musical performances that have come out of the barrios (Latin neighborhoods) of Los Angeles. There will also be some of the most talented artists and muralists from the "inner city" and surrounding areas representing the city's many indigenous cultures throughout North-, Central-, and South America.

The local celebration of the Mexika New Year first emerged in 1998 east of the Los Angeles River. A collective of Chicano artists and pro-indigenous activists organized an array of cultural events and workshops shared throughout the community with the aim of reconnecting with lost identities in Native indigenous cultures.
 
Aztec Calendar

The stone calendar has great meaning.

The celebration revolves around the Tonalmachiotl, also known as the Aztec Calendar (shown above and explained on right), which is one of the greatest collective accomplishments of the culture's ancestral forebears.

The Aztec Calendar (like the Mayan system that preceded it) is the most accurate calendar system in existence today -- measuring time, space, astrological movements, agricultural cycles, and individual human potential, not to mention a 24-hour clock partition into 20 72-minute fractions.

The celebration includes a sunrise ceremony with traditional Aztec dance or danza Azteca to honor the Spring Equinox and the old world's traditional New Year. There will be a concert of mixed musical genres: hip hop, ska, reggae, and rock.

Also included is a unique Native artisan-style marketplace with vendors from all over North, Central, and South America and an educational component that includes workshops designed to awaken and inspire a complete constructive change of the body, mind, and spirit.
 
The greater Los Angeles community and the world is warmly welcome to attend. Come see, hear, smell, touch, and taste the magnificent diversity of indigenous Native Mexican-American culture. It's family fun for everyone! Admission is FREE for all.